Improvement in pill-machines



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIo'E.,A

PIERRE CAUHAPE, OF NEIV. YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN PILL-MACHINES.

' jointed stock, also the pill-holders.

Speciication forming part of Letters Patent No. 152,461, dated June 30,1874 g application filed June 6, 1874.

To all rwhom it may concern:

13e it known that I, PIERRE GAUHAPE, ot' the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented a new and Improved Pill-Machine, of which thefollowing is a specification:

My invention consists of a couple of sets of pointed hooks in a jointedstock, which opens and closes the hooks for gripin g and releasingpills, in' combination with a table and a holding-bar, for holding thepills so as to be taken by the hooks for dipping them in the gela-tinecoating-bath 5 also, a socket-clamp for taking the pills from the hooksafter the rst dipping 5 and 'also a spring-clamp for taking' the pillsfrom the socketlelamp and dipping them a second time in thecoating-bath, all as hereinafter described.

Figure l is a plan of the hooks and their Fig. 2 is a sectionalelevation ot' Fig. 1, taken on the line x Fig. 3 is a front elevation ofthe plate or table represented in Fig. 1, on which the pills are held tobe taken by the hooks. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the socket-clampfor taking the pills from the hooks. also for presenting them to thespring dipping-holder. Fig.5 is a plan of the socket-clamp and springdipping-holder. Fig. 6 is a section of Fig. 5 on the line y y.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts.

A is a wide board or table, having its upper surfacergrooved, as at a,to hold the pills for the hooks B to take them, in the manner indicatedin Figs. l and 2, for dipping them in the coating-bath. At one end ofeach groove is a recess, C, in the table, in which the lower hooks areplaced, while the upper hooks are raised higher than the pills, to allowthem to be pushed along between the hooks by a pushing-bar, D, which hasrecesses in its front lower corner, coinciding with the grooves, toreceive the rear portions of the pills while pushing them along to thehooks, the object ,being to control them better than they could be by aplain pushing-bar. The upper edge H of this bar is made sharp to receiveseparately a row of pills from the recess in the grooves on the table,ready to be pushed along to the hooks. Each set of hooks is arranged ina long bar or head, I. The two heads are arranged side by side andhinged together at the back, so that the hooks may be closed on thepills to engage them by hooking into two opposite sides, to hohl themfor dipping in the bath, and be opened to release the pills afterdipping. Rubber bands J, or other springs, will be employed to hold thehooks closed, and they will be forced open to receive the pills betweenthem, as indicated in Fig. 2, by the operator pressing his lingers inthe cavities K, indicated in the ends by dotted lines. These hooksengage the pills a little short of the center, so that they can dip themto the middle without the hooks entering the bath. After the first dipthe pills are discharged from the hooks into the socket-clamp L M, to betaken by the spriug-ela/mp for dipping the other halt by raising theupper jaws of the clamp, placing the pills in the socket N of the lower011e, the hooks being' presented from the back or left hand, asrepresented in Fig. 5, and forein g the hooks apart out of the pillsinto the notches l), by shoving the bar Q along between the converginghooks toward the clamp, or by opening them as they are opened forengaging the pills in the iirst place, and then pulling the /hooks backout of the notches. The pills, being thus left in the clamp, andprojeetii'lg about halt' their breadth, are taken from the clamp M L bythe spring-iingers It S of a clamp composed ot' said fingers and acouple of bars, T, hinged together, and the undipped portions dippedagain in the bath to complete the coating. The spring-clamp hasadjusting-screws V to regulate the pressure ot' the spring on the pills.

Thus the pills will be thoroughly coated and the holes made by the hooksin the first operation closed.

A special advantage of this apparatus over others is, that the pills maybe dipped each time exactly to the center, so that the two coats willmeet and join thereat without overlapping, and thus make the pills moreuniform than. they are made by other apparatus.

Having thus described my invention, I claim. as new and desire to secureby Letters latent- 1. The combination of thetwo sets of pointed hooks B,ljointed heads or bars I, and springs J, substantially as specified.

2. The combination o f the hook-clamp] B J with thcl groovcd undsockctcd mhh; A und socketed pushin g-bzu' D, Substantial 1y as specied.

3. The comhilmtion of the hook-clamp I 1 J and the socket-chmul M L,substantially as specified.

4. The combination 0f th spring-clamp R S T with the socket-clamp M L,substantially as specied.

5. The grooved and socketcd table A and 'Soukctcd pushing-hm' D,combined substan tially as specied.

6. The clamp L M, with sockets N and notches I), substantially asspecified.

7. The spring-fingers R S, hinged bars T, and regulating-screw V,combined. and m'- ranged substantially as specied.

Nitnesses: P. CAUHAPE.

T. B. MOSHER, ALEX. F. ROBERTS.

